BIG GUSTY: Some details today on Kane’s effort to provide
amenities to bolster its claim as the Icebox of Pennsylvania:
Jerome R. Pier writes, “The slope with the rope tow was called
Big Gusty and by international skiing standards it wasn’t much.
However, it was a great innovation for local skiers. The Kane Ski
Club used it.”
“As I recall, membership cost something like 50 cents for which
you got a pin badge for your cap and a season ticket to use the
tow. I wish I could remember the name of the guy who ran it. He had
built the tow and instructed neophites on the technique for getting
on the rope, staying on and getting off at the top.”
MICHAEL FERKO: Bill Engel of Gainesville, Fla., adds to our
recollections about Bradford’s police officers of yore.
“I always enjoy coming back to Bradford and reliving the good
times growing up there. In the RTS edition you mentioned my
grandfather Michael Ferko.
“I remember him well. I believe he was captain on the local
police force. He retired and went to work in Smethport as the
director of Veteran Affairs. I remember him taking me to Smethport
to his office. I believe I must have been 8 or 9.
“He also took me to the police station in Bradford. That made a
lasting impression. My grandmother and grandfather had a great
house on Bolivar Drive. I loved spending my summers there. He
raised chickens and they had two gardens. He died in 1956. Keep up
the good work. I enjoy reading the columns.”
Bill is actually Dr. William T. Engel Jr., who holds a
doctorate, and is director of the University of Florida Center for
Training, Research and Education for Environmental Occupations. His
mother is Lillian Engel.
MORE ON WESB: Nancy Houser Kania adds to our tale of WESB’s
early days: “My grandmother Bertha Houser took me to what I think
was called ‘Breakfast in Bradford.’ It was a live radio show
broadcast from the Emery Hotel coffee shop. Recently, I found
‘among my souvenirs,’ a set of four plastic coasters with the
words, ‘WESB – Tell It on the Radio,’ stamped on all of them. They
are bright orange and green. Are they of any interest to the
historical society or to WESB itself? I can’t believe I have saved
these for probably 55-plus years!”
